Games and Accessibility

[sasha_feather]

I have been getting more into gaming lately. It's the best thing to do when I'm especially ill because it distracts me from feeling terrible, and it's just plain fun. Naturally, I think about accessibility in gaming.

I usually play with the sound off because I'm not super into the music on games. When on my PC, I'll listen to my own music while playing. I have arthritis and some dexterity-driven games are not for me. Very stressful games aren't for me either. The games below, I played on PC and purchased through Steam.

Stardew Valley: This is a wonderful, low-key game that involves farming, fishing, mining, and scavenging, and occasionally interacting with villagers. You can play at your own pace and sound is not required. I use my mouse left-handed*, and this game is designed for a Right handed mouse. Although I found a page for switching keyboard commands, I couldn't find a way to switch the mouse buttons. I ended up leaving the mouse button commands alone and still playing Left handed, and switching the keyboard commands to accommodate my right hand being on the keyboard. Fishing is difficult and requires dexterity. However, there's a mod that makes all fishing easy. I downloaded and installed this mod with the help of some internet tutorials. I played this game a lot and it was very relaxing.

Undertale: I gave up on this game mostly because it requires high dexterity. I admit that the art wasn't really my style either.

Never Alone: I gave this a try and it was rather stressful, as it involves a lot of running away from polar bears and such. The game play is also sometimes difficult and requires dexterity, and again I was using left handed mouse which didn't seem natural for the default controls. It's very beautiful and I might try again someday, but my favorite part were the "cultural insights" (Northern indigenous people talking about their cultures) which I could probably just watch on YouTube.

*I am not technically left-handed; but I have pain in my right shoulder so made this switch years ago. These days my left hand is my "good hand".

post is to be continued as I have more games to write about!

Comments

[isagel]

As a non-disabled gamer (though I sometimes have pain in my thumbs and underarms) I gave up on Never Alone because I found the gameplay too difficult. I suspect it's made to be played with a controller and works less well with a PC keyboard. Anyway, timing all the jumps was extremely hard for me and replaying every sequence over and over and over to get it right gets old after a while, even if the game is lovely.

[sasha_feather]

Jumping is one of my least favorite aspects of any game, since it's so fussy. And there was a lot of jumping in the bit of Never Alone that I played.

[worlds_of_smoke]

I ♥ Stardew Valley. The fishing mod saved my sanity, I swear. XD

[sasha_feather]

Yes, it allowed me to get some rare fish and complete the greenhouse! So great.

[lassarina]

What kind of dexterity-driven gameplay are you thinking? Is it like, reaction speed or precision of click (untimed)? I've been playing a lot of hidden object games (the one genre, it seems, where I'm 75% likely to find female protagonists as default or only option!) and while you do sometimes have to click in specific places, it's nearly never at any kind of speed, and I wonder if you would like them.

GIP

[jesse_the_k]

just had to post to love your icon. A lot.

Re: GIP

[lassarina]

*laughing* Thank you! There is a reason it is my default. It's so often applicable. XD

[sasha_feather]

Yes, I think reaction speed is the issue. I'm not sure if I've played hidden object games before, but I'd be interested in trying them out!

[lassarina]

In that case, I recommend the Grim Legends series - they're available on Steam for both Mac and PC. They're high quality dark twists on fairy tales, and I really quite liked them. (The House of 1000 Doors is also one that I enjoyed, although I have the niggling sense there may have been problematic aspects to it, but I cannot recall why I think so.)

[shadesofbrixton]

Oh my gosh, I love Stardew Valley! Though mining and fighting the slimes stresses me out, to be honest. The rest of it is so so lovely and fun, I hope they release another similar game sometime soon.